Troubling signs for the Flyers

Flyers goalie Rob Zepp, who was recently called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, has a 3-1 record with Philadelphia.

Flyers goalie Rob Zepp, who was recently called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, has a 3-1 record with Philadelphia. (Elsa, Getty Images)

Wayne FishCalkins Media

Are the Flyers headed toward the depths of their forgettable 2006-07 team?

While it might be a little early to write off the Flyers this season, some folks are already starting to compare this year's edition to that 2006-07 club, which finished last in the NHL.

After a terrible start to that campaign, coach Ken Hitchcock was fired and general manager Bob Clarke, saddled with the likes of players with names like Baumgartner, Dimitrakos and Kukkonen, wisely decided to retire.

Clarke was replaced by Paul Holmgren, who served as GM until last May.

Holmgren, now the team president, acknowledged there might be some similarities between this year's team and the one that might have been the worst in franchise history.

"There was a core of young kids [Jeff Carter, Mike Richards] then, too,'' Holmgren said. "Jake [Voracek] and Claude [Giroux] are a little older and they're going to be top players for a long time. There are some comparisons, for sure.''

Few saw the '06-'07 season coming, likewise this year.

"It's a tough league,'' Holmgren said. "The difference between winning and losing is very fine. There are some elite teams in our league — our aim is to get to that level.

"At the same time, you look at how we play against some teams. The inconsistency that Ron [Hextall] and Craig [Berube] talk about is frustrating for everybody.''

The Flyers go through these vexing stretches where they win two or three games, then turn right around and lose three straight.

"I think we're a better team than our record shows,'' Holmgren said. "But we're certainly not up with the class of some of these top teams right now.''

Similar to what Hextall said about sticking with Berube, Holmgren noted that he believes Berube's message is still heard in the locker room.

Akeson heads back: Jason Akeson, who was called up from the Phantoms on Saturday when Matt Read took ill, was returned to the Lehigh Valley club on Sunday. As it turns out, Read felt well enough to play on Saturday night in a 4-3 win at Buffalo.

Zepp again?: Goaltender Rob Zepp raised his record to 3-1 in the Buffalo win and has now appeared in four straight games. There's a good chance Berube will go back to Zepp for this afternoon's game at the New York Islanders.